The Grass is always Greener
by hotlittlemama1114
Summary: Peek in at Haley and Nathan Scott 10 years after their marriage.
1. Chapter 1

Haley Scott looked around her kitchen in a daze, wondering why she had come in the room in the first place. She knew that she had come in with a purpose but couldn't, for the life of her, figure out what that purpose was. Pregnant with her third child, she always got absent-minded when she had a "bun in the oven". She smiled to herself, taking this as just another reminder of the life inside of her. She didn't mind so much the scatter brained things she did, she had her amazing husband to balance things out. Nathan, her husband, did not look at all surprised when she popped her head back in to the living room to ask him what exactly she had gone to the kitchen in the first place to do. Before she could get the words out he spoke up,

"Scissors" he smiled at her. Haley grinned back gratefully, knowing that if it wasn't for Nathan, she'd probably have lost her mind by now. She returned a few minutes later with the scissors and handed them to Nathan. He had offered to clip the coupons from the Sunday paper while she took a nap. The children were upstairs taking their Sunday afternoon nap and Nathan knew that Haley had a hard time sleeping at this point in her pregnancy.

Haley eased herself back on to the couch and instantly felt relief from her aching back. The doctors had performed a sonogram on her a few weeks before and she and Nathan were preparing for their second son. Two boys and a girl, she though happily to herself, remembering her childhood dreams of having six children. She and Nathan were well on their way to her dreams. Long since dropping the hyphen of her last name (Haley James-Scott) because she knew that her family now was the Scott's, she was comfortable being in the family way with the love of her life. How things change, she thought as she slipped in to a much needed nap.

Nathan stared lovingly at his napping wife. How things have changed, his thoughts mirrored hers. With a stay-at-home wife taking care of his children, he had recently re-opened with the help of his brother, Scott Motors. New ownership, same name, different values. That was the mantra the brother's repeated. They refused to be like their father, and prided themselves on their honesty and hard work. Things had fallen in to place nicely since he and Haley had married 10 years before. The people who scoffed that it would never last between he and Haley, had long since seen the light, long since realized that if ever there were true love and fate, it would have been harvested there in the Scott family.

Their children were amazing. James was nearly 9 and prided himself on being the big brother. Tall for his age, he had broken from the family tradition of playing basketball and was succeeding fast on his Pop Warner football team. Playing the team's quarterback and captain, there were already talks of natural talent. Nathan supported James regardless of what sport if any, he decided to play. Brooklyn, their 6 year old, was more girl than Nathan or Haley knew what to do with. It was like she was born with a mirror and compact in her hand. She was hesitant to get "dirty" and only wanted to try on new clothes and her mother's make up. Both parents were baffled at how girly she was, but Haley embraced it and made sure that shopping trips were considered "Mommy-Daughter" time.

Nathan heard noise upstairs and knew that the children were rising from their naps. James always scoffed at a nap, but on Sundays it was natural to take the breather before the week began. Nathan slipped off the couch, so as not to disturb Haley, and went to get the children together to prepare dinner for their mother. It was the family routine. Nathan and the children gave Haley the break she very much deserved on Sundays. As he headed up the stairs, a knock came at the front door. He frowned towards it as the knocking became more incessant. When he finally made it to the front door, the knocking was frantic. He opened the door to find the biggest surprise of his life.


	2. Chapter 2

Nathan stared, stunned as Mouth McFadden slumped against the front rails of their quaint, beach front home. Mouth, or Marvy as he desired to be called, had changed in recent years. The year after graduating college, Mouth was on the fast track to becoming the senator that Brooke Davis once had envisioned him becoming. He was on the campaign trail with a prominent Republican when he was caught in an airport bathroom snoring cocaine off a toilet seat. He was forced out of working for the campaign and had dropped from sight in recent years. The last that Nathan had heard, Mouth was living somewhere outside of Washington D.C. and working for a homebuilder there, being their lackey with the permits office. Nathan broke the silence.

"Hey man, how've you been?" Mouth stared at him a long moment before replying with a grunt, "Fine, can I come inside? I have to ask you something". Nathan led him to the kitchen and asked him to stay there while he ran upstairs to tend to the children. After setting the kids up in the rec room with a new movie they hadn't seen yet, he peeked in at Haley in the living room to make sure she was still sleeping. He would wake her after he figured out what caused this unexpected visit from their old friend. Satisfied that his beautiful bride was snoring quietly and getting the rest she deserved, he returned to the kitchen to sit with his old friend.

"So…what brings you to our part of town, Mou…er….Marvy??". He asked nervously. It had been a long time since Nathan had been around many of his friends from high school. He and Lucas were in business together, but the rest of the crew had started their own lives around the country.

Mouth glanced around nervously and then began to speak. "Nathan, I had nowhere else to go. I've got these guys who I borrowed money from…I can't pay them back man because I'm in between jobs. I'd only need the cash for three, maybe four weeks tops" he rambled his typical addict speak while Nathan wondered how he gotten so far off from who he used to be. Mouth, everyone's friend, the guy everyone looked up to and desired to be like when they "grew up". Nathan struggled with what to say next.

"Dude, look, times are hard around here…Haley's pregnant with our third…" his words trailed off as he watched Mouth's face. His eyes were sunken in and dark circles were under his eyes. He was always a skinny guy but now he was rail thin but had a bloated stomach. Mouth's eyes became panicked, and he started sputtering out his words.

"Don't you think this is the last place I would go? I thought you were my friend, man. I really need help. These guys are going to kill me if I don't come up with what they want! Nathan, I really need your help! You wouldn't want me to make things difficult for you would you?"

The guys heard a noise from behind them and Haley was standing there with a shocked expression on her face. Her hands clasped in front of her swelling belly, she opened her mouth.

"Marvin. What in the world is going on with you? We haven't seen you in years, and now you show up and the first things I hear from your mouth are threats against my husband?" her voice rose angrily "You better calm yourself and tell me exactly what you got yourself in to." Mouth slumped in his chair, feeling as though he were being reprimanded by his mother. Why do all mothers have the ability to make you feel as though you were caught with your hand in the cookie jar?


	3. Chapter 3

Hours later, the kids were tucked in to bed and Haley sighed. The two of them had been planning a party for that summer, inspired by the visit from Mouth. They were going to get their old friends together again, a kind of "we're sorry we haven't been in touch" kind of bash. The talk of it had seemed to make Haley happy so when she sighed, Nathan looked at her worried.

"What's wrong, honey?" he asked her. He was so caring and protective of her, especially when she was pregnant.

"I'm just so confused about how Mouth, of all people, could have ended up like that. Rachel? Sure. But Mouth?" Nathan nodded, rubbing her back. Haley slipped away in to her own thoughts. After high school, the group didn't really remain as tight as they had always promised. Though it saddened Haley to think of it, she knew that most of her friends she no longer was in close contact with, had gone on to do great things.

Peyton never did make it to college. After high school, she took the job of a lifetime, working for Sony Records as an administrative assistant to one of the "big wigs". She moved out to Los Angeles and sunk herself deep in to her work. Though she and Lucas had promised to be together forever, their relationship hardly lasted 4 months out of high school. After working as the admin assistant for two and a half years, she was promoted within to a critic for the company's newest magazine. Her job was essentially to travel the world, going to dive bars to critique the band they had playing that night. If the band was exceptional, she was to turn the powers that be on to them and they would come out to try to sign the band. She had a great ear for music and had truly found her knack in life. However, finding the happiness that she craved in life had come at its price. With working late hours at night and traveling most of the day, she hardly had time for her friends or family any more and could only check in once in a great blue moon. The last time Haley had spoken to her, several weeks before, she had been in Beijing, preparing for a show by a group called "Xi Chong".

Brooke had gone to New York to pursue her fashion career but had quickly realized that the world of fashion was far too cut throat for her. She sold her business "Clothes over Bros" to Nicky Hilton for a tidy fortune. The clothing line had flourished and Brooke, with the knowledge that she never had to work again if she chose not to, returned to Tree Hill, North Carolina to pursue another venture…winning the heart back of her true love, Lucas Scott. Brooke never told Haley why she had the change of heart and wanted to give it another go with Lucas, but nonetheless, the two of them had been married for 6 years and were trying to have a baby. They had their ups and downs but they stuck together and their marriage truly worked. With Lucas in a partnership with Nathan at Scott Motors, Brooke and Haley remained close. Lucas had finished college after getting his degree in business, and handled all the money aspects of Scott Motors. The business was flourishing and the brothers were sitting on top of the world with their beautiful wives and families. Lately however, Haley had been feeling like Brooke was hiding something but knew that with Brooke, secrets never remained buried for long.

Skills was killed in a horrific car accident a year after graduation. While partying with friends from college, he had too much to drink and got in to the car with a friend who was equally drunk. He never made it home that night and the hole he left in the world is still felt. Bevin and he had had plans to be married and after his death, she sunk in to a deep hole of depression. After trying to kill herself several times, she moved to Indiana to make a fresh start with some relatives. Brooke still talked to her now and again and said that she just wasn't the same goofy Bevin as before. Though it broke her heart to know this information, she knew that Bevin would be okay.

What became of Rachel was no surprise to anyone. She went to New York with Brooke and then to Washington D.C. in hopes of making a relationship work with Mouth a second time around. The second time was as disastrous as the first and she had been the first to introduce Mouth to the nose candy he had become so accustomed to over the years. After partying hard for a year together, he awoke one morning to a note saying that it had been a great ride and for him "not to forget her". He had fallen hard, again, for Rachel and all he had gotten was a life-altering addiction. Rachel floated from one state to another, using people until they got sick of her and she moved on to the next place. No one had heard of what had become of her in the past couple of years. The last they had heard she was in Seattle, Washington working as a dancer at a club.

Whitey had passed away just last year. Cancer had taken him quickly and he hadn't put up a struggle. Truth was, he had been anticipating death since his wife had passed and wasn't going to prolong it any longer than it had taken. He had died peacefully on a spring morning and was buried next to his beloved wife.

Haley sat up quickly and turned to Nathan, she had decided how to get everyone to come to their party.


	4. Chapter 4

Haley sighed happily. She and Nathan had just left her OB/GYN's office and the baby was doing well. Everything had appeared normal and Haley had never felt better in her life. Riding on a high, she suggested they let Nathan's mother Deb watch the children for a few hours longer and they could get dinner "just the two of them". They both knew it would be quite a while after the baby was born before they could have a romantic dinner without the children again. A quick phone call by Nathan confirmed that his mother had no other plans and would be thrilled to watch the kids. Deb had come in to her own in recent years, starting and maintaining a successful restaurant in town. Being the owner of the restaurant, she was allowed more flexible hours. It was still her "baby" these days since her own son had a family of his own now.

Nathan began talking about the party they were planning for summer. He didn't want anything too big, considering their son would only be a couple of months old at that point. It had been several weeks since Mouth's visit and they hadn't heard from him again. Nathan had heard from Chase, a mechanic at the dealership, that he had seen Mouth still in town as of two days before-Chase had seen him around the old River Courts when he had been passing by on his way to work. Nathan made a mental note to talk to Lucas about staging an "intervention" for Mouth. Lucas had always been much closer to Mouth than Nathan was and if anyone could get through to him, it would be Lucas.

The couple arrived at their favorite seafood restaurant and promptly were seated in a corner booth. Haley gazed at her husband's handsome face adoringly. It amazed her how everyday she found something new to love about him. They had gone through their tough times and had come out on top. They held hands across the table and talked about the children. Nathan told her about a crazy client that had come in to the dealership that day and caused quite a scene. He laughed when he recanted the story about how the man, a balding 50 year old, had come in to buy what he called his "mid-life crisis car" but had gotten in to such an angry rant about fuel costs and how it was dealerships fault for selling so many cars that people had turned to stare. Nathan finally escorted the gentleman to the door and laughed when he saw that the man was driving a Hummer…the most fuel guzzling SUV of all. Haley giggled at Nathan's precise description of the man and smiled happily at their closeness. After they finished their meal, Nathan led Haley to the car and opened her door for her.

After pulling out on the interstate, headed back to Tree Hill Haley held on to Nathan's hand and found relaxing music on the radio. Their song was playing and she sang to him softly, the words she had sung over and over for years. He leaned his head back and enjoyed the sound of her beautiful singing voice. Like always when Haley sang, he felt a pang for the career she had given up for him and their life together. Though she swore to him that their life together was far more important than any singing career, he still felt the guilt over being the one she chose over her God given talent. Her voice was like an angels', and many nights, while she sang to the children before bed, tears drew in to his eyes and felt the weight of the wasted talent.

They were discussing the party again and Haley was looking down at a guest list she had jotted down and thinking of who she was missing. Currently there were 20 people on there, friends and family. Her parents were living their dream. They'd rented a house in Woodstock, New York. Though the legendary concert had been over for several decades, they still held on to the dream of it coming back and them having front row seats. She smiled at she thought of her unconventional parents.

While reviewing the guest list, she realized she had left off Rachel. She was picking her head up from the list to ask Nathan if he thought she should be included when she saw the flash of lights, Nathan tensed and threw his right arm against her chest. She looked up just in time to see a large truck barreling towards them in their lane. Nathan tried to swerve but wherever he went, the truck was aiming to also try to avoid collision. Right before the impact, Haley noticed the truck looked vaguely familiar. Instead of ducking, she stared at the truck in horror and amazement. Then there was darkness.


End file.
